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Thoughts from the Borderline
Humans are beautiful in our resilience; we are forever breaking and mending, crumbling and growing. Our ability to withstand such great pain, mental and physical, inspires me to put words on a page.
These words narrate a journey through death and self-loathing to falling in love as a borderline personality, and the never ending journey to self-acceptance.
These words narrate a journey through death and self-loathing to falling in love as a borderline personality, and the never ending journey to self-acceptance.
- GenresPoetry
152 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 10, 2018
3 people are currently reading
10 people want to read
About the author
Rae King
1 book28 followersRae King is a writer who’s been buried in books since she can remember, and ever since the day she discovered Plath and Bukowski, poetry has held her heart captive. Thoughts from the Borderline is her first collection.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
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February 23, 2023❧ poetry review
Ask me of life, and I’ll struggle
to pen a sentence.
Ask me of death,
And I’ll spit the alphabet without intention.
This collection of mixed poetry and prose was wonderful and reminded me why I fell in love with writing and poems to being with. Honestly, this book left me desperate to read poetry for hours, which says a lot. (I’m picky with my poetry.) King’s words are raw and real, and flow together so well. There’s also a great visual layout to the poems that changes up the rhythm of how you read it, which was a really cool effect. I don’t want to give too much away, because I think the poems unfold beautifully without spoilers, but I thoroughly recommend it.
Ask me of life, and I’ll struggle
to pen a sentence.
Ask me of death,
And I’ll spit the alphabet without intention.
This collection of mixed poetry and prose was wonderful and reminded me why I fell in love with writing and poems to being with. Honestly, this book left me desperate to read poetry for hours, which says a lot. (I’m picky with my poetry.) King’s words are raw and real, and flow together so well. There’s also a great visual layout to the poems that changes up the rhythm of how you read it, which was a really cool effect. I don’t want to give too much away, because I think the poems unfold beautifully without spoilers, but I thoroughly recommend it.
December 20, 2018
Usually here I comment on star counts being tricky and personal. This is not the case with this work. More on the stars, counting, and my rating challenges later. The real task before me is to communicate what King has on offer here.
I will give opening words as King does not, in general, provide titles.
In The darkness, it calls to me, we have a prose piece which begins thus: “The darkness, it calls to me louder than you once did. Through time, through space, through your memory, through our last name. And years mean nothing, I've learned, for this pain of your absence, …”
In I’m seeing you from a place, we find this: “Time is like love here, it's never made any damn sense.”
In A tsunami of emotions, we find this: “The wind still carries his smell. The sky reminds me that he’s watching me, waiting patiently for our reunion.”
King has experienced difficult relationships, as in He said he loved me, where we find this: “It feels good when we’re together, even when it stings, even when I cannot seem to breathe.”
In A man walks a street, we find this: “Happiness is only an illusion. He'd seen it but to feel it was a faraway dream. He wonders what peace will feel like …” If you think that’s a spoiler, read the last line of this poem.
King is not always negative, as in You can prepare for many things in life, where we find this: “You can prepare for many things in life. /A test. /A job. /A date. /Some things you cannot. /A child-”
Spoiiler alert: here is an entire short poem: “If I woke every morning /to our bodies tangled together, /I’d still drink you in /like I’d never had a taste.”
For a sad recollection, turn to All these years after.
Hopefully the above gives you some feel for this work. I have other favourites, and yours may be different from mine. Now for the star count boilerplate. My personal guidelines, when doing any review, are as follows: five stars means, roughly equal to best in genre. Rarely given. Four stars means, extremely good. Three stars means, definitely recommendable. I am a tough reviewer. I try hard to be consistent. King is a powerful writer. Five stars feels right on to this curmudgeon.
I will give opening words as King does not, in general, provide titles.
In The darkness, it calls to me, we have a prose piece which begins thus: “The darkness, it calls to me louder than you once did. Through time, through space, through your memory, through our last name. And years mean nothing, I've learned, for this pain of your absence, …”
In I’m seeing you from a place, we find this: “Time is like love here, it's never made any damn sense.”
In A tsunami of emotions, we find this: “The wind still carries his smell. The sky reminds me that he’s watching me, waiting patiently for our reunion.”
King has experienced difficult relationships, as in He said he loved me, where we find this: “It feels good when we’re together, even when it stings, even when I cannot seem to breathe.”
In A man walks a street, we find this: “Happiness is only an illusion. He'd seen it but to feel it was a faraway dream. He wonders what peace will feel like …” If you think that’s a spoiler, read the last line of this poem.
King is not always negative, as in You can prepare for many things in life, where we find this: “You can prepare for many things in life. /A test. /A job. /A date. /Some things you cannot. /A child-”
Spoiiler alert: here is an entire short poem: “If I woke every morning /to our bodies tangled together, /I’d still drink you in /like I’d never had a taste.”
For a sad recollection, turn to All these years after.
Hopefully the above gives you some feel for this work. I have other favourites, and yours may be different from mine. Now for the star count boilerplate. My personal guidelines, when doing any review, are as follows: five stars means, roughly equal to best in genre. Rarely given. Four stars means, extremely good. Three stars means, definitely recommendable. I am a tough reviewer. I try hard to be consistent. King is a powerful writer. Five stars feels right on to this curmudgeon.
March 23, 2019
I got this book for free in exchange for a review.
Thoughts from the Borderline is very intense and personal, but not in a way that managed to touch me. I find that this kind of poetry requires a resonance with the author that I simply could not achieve, making the book fall fairly flat to the point of it being difficult and unpleasant to read. Though likely to be expected based on the theme given already in the title, I did not think that the experience would be so far removed from anything I have experienced and I did not manage to put myself in the shoes of the writer while reading this, nor could I empathize sufficiently.
In short: this book really wasn't for me, for reasons that had little to do with its quality.
Thoughts from the Borderline is very intense and personal, but not in a way that managed to touch me. I find that this kind of poetry requires a resonance with the author that I simply could not achieve, making the book fall fairly flat to the point of it being difficult and unpleasant to read. Though likely to be expected based on the theme given already in the title, I did not think that the experience would be so far removed from anything I have experienced and I did not manage to put myself in the shoes of the writer while reading this, nor could I empathize sufficiently.
In short: this book really wasn't for me, for reasons that had little to do with its quality.
April 30, 2018
this literature is beautiful, brutal and blooming. from start to end the mystery of the authors past and raw & creative mind reels you in and leaves you wanting more especially if you are one dealing with mental illness. these words shine light to the stigma but also light to the much harder part of mental health to swallow from self-deterioration to self-harm. the selection veers from the average by varying from one liners to short stories, all just as powerful as the next and all emotionally grasping.
i’m incredibly proud to know the author, her journey, the journey to come and the healing of the diseases we continue to beat everyday.
i’m incredibly proud to know the author, her journey, the journey to come and the healing of the diseases we continue to beat everyday.
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April 18, 2018As I started reading this book, tears were strolling down my face without me even knowing. I can relate to this book by so many ways.. through death, life, relationships, and reality. I don't think I have ever felt so close to a book in my life until I read this one. It's deep and real. Too beautiful to describe how much I have enjoyed it. "it's hard to believe in life after death on the days when eternal darkness ignites warmth in my chest."
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews